


Sigils

by Someone_end_me



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Child Abuse, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Langst, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyamory, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape/Non-con Elements, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, autistic lance, based off of how i act
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-10-24 18:41:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10747560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Someone_end_me/pseuds/Someone_end_me
Summary: Lance’s mama had called him lucky, his abuela had called him sadOr the soulmate au no one asked for





	1. Many

Lance’s mama had called him lucky, his abuela had called him sad.

 

Having multiple marks was one thing when only one or two of them were romantic, but when all of them were, well people looked at you different. Lance’s marks had developed slowly, starting with the little flame on his right shoulder blade that seemed to actually burn, when he was five; two swords that slowly turned into hissing snakes appeared when he seven, along with the second mark. (he pretended to not like the flames, pretend that when he touched it it didn’t make his heart flutter)

 

His other mark was on his hip, developing when he was 7 when the first mark had finished, and simpler than the other. A lotus, stark white on his tan skin, with a broken stem. The stem wasn’t broken in the sense that it just stopped, it was shattered, like the time his little sister dropped abuela’s glass chalice. (he would run his fingers over that one in the shower, wonder what happened that could be so bad as to shatter a stem)

 

His third mark developed in the throws of his grandpapa's funeral, singeing itself over his heart. It was a simple yellow crystal surrounded by wood. Abuela said the mark meant whoever it belonged to would ground him, keep his feet on the ground when he needed it, give him a place to rest when he needed to be in the clouds. (Lance couldn’t believe someone like that could exist, someone who could stop the shaking of his fingers)

 

When his fourth mark came in, grandmama cried for him. He could hear her mutter in gaelic whenever she thought he couldn’t hear her, _Cursed boy, he will die sad._ Mama would glare at her whenever she said this. Grandmama would rub foul smelling lotions over all his marks, abuela would wash it off in the river next to their house. (he was cursed, he had too many marks, too many to be normal)

 

“You are not cursed.” She would repeat it to him like a prayer, Lance always thought she was saying it to convince herself more than him.

 

When grandmama died he didn’t cry, the spear with vines wrapping around it cemented on his side.

 

When the two mice, one pink the other orange, popped up on his ankle his older brother asked when it would ever end. His cousin, the one who had rubbed special ointment on the mark over his heart, glared at him; she had no mark. (he hated his marks at this point, he began to cover them up more, abuela would hid his jackets and long sleeves during summer)

 

The last mark he ever got was a small blue lion on his palm when he was 14. The lion baffled his abuela, in all of human history no one had ever gotten a mark on their hand, never mind their palm. (he loved that one, no one could convince him otherwise, it was beautiful, more beautiful than the others) Mama told him that people, witches, would get marks on their hands for their animals. She called them familiars and abeula scoffed at her, saying that familiars tied to ones soul didn't exist.

 

When Lance met Hunk he kissed him immediately, he had found his soulmate (one of them he reminded himself, one of them) He loved his mark on Hunk, a wave as blue as his own eyes that swirled to surround a small boy. (Lance would never tell Hunk that the boy was crying, feeding the wave with his tears) His abuela had been right about Hunk, he held his hands whether he was shaking or not, would hold him for hours when he felt like he would float away.

 

The dreams started when he 16 and they terrified him. Barely anyone had dreams anymore, he heard horror stories of people who had dreams being dragged off to labs to have their brains picked apart. The only person he told was his abuela, it was the first time she ever smiled when he talked about his marks; she told him stories of her own dreams. Vivid blues and reds and greens, large desserts surrounded by ocean.

 

Lance didn’t dream of blues and reds and greens, his dreams were filled with screaming. People with blurring faces and every month a new house. He woke up in a cold sweat, the muddled, harsh words reminding him of his grandmama. The hard hits of his uncle, before papa sent him away. He would dream of sleepless nights, desperately trying to sing his soulmate to sleep like his sister would when their uncle came to babysit them.  But the other couldn't dream like he could, couldn't feel him, his desperation to comfort him. (he lied to his abuela, told her he dreamed of stars and smiles and warm hugs)

 

When the dreams spread to his other soulmate, the lotus on his hip, he felt better about his llamita, he was with the lotus, happy and together. (It hurt Lance to watch them laugh together in his dreams, he wanted to be there too but people rarely shared soulmates)

 

He was 18 when he was accepted into the Garrison, a cargo pilot with Hunk, not his dream but better than nothing. (He couldn't resent Keith, his llamita, but he could act like it) He learned through his dreams that Lotus spoke Japanese, Keith spoke Korean and Russian, and Viney spoke German. He spent his nights studying language after language, having Hunk teach him hawaiin in their spare time. (He was desperate to feel connected to his unrequited soulmates)

 

Viney became Pidge half a year after his start at the Garrison, Pidge also had Lotus on her shoulder.

 

“It's Shiro, not Lotus, and please tell me you're not one of those people who condemn multiple romantic marks, cause I can assure you that Shiro’s mark for me is also romantic.”

 

“I am dating both you and Hunk, you really think I would be one of those people?”

 

“No but you're so opposed to the idea that Shiro might have your mark too.”

 

“Yeah, I'm way out his league so of course he wouldn't.” ( he wasn't, Shiro didn't deserve someone like him, a cursed boy, his mark would never show up on them)

 

He never told Hunk or Pidge that he dreamed about Shiro fighting, didn't tell them he knew why the stem on the lotus was shattered.

 

Hunk got his spear and vines on his left shoulder blade the day after Lance got moved to fighter class, his had little flowers blooming though.

 

“They're called edelweiss. Why you have them but Lance doesn't is what I want to know, though?”

 

“Soulmate marks are particular to each person even if they are for the same soulmate, a kind of fortune on how your relationship with them will evolve. Hunk having flowers on his mark means he'll probably have a more, soft, relationship with you than I will.” His two soulmates stared at him, Pidges jaw was almost touching the floor.

 

“How do you know that?” Hunk was staring at, or trying to stare at, his newly formed mark.

 

“My abuela is kind of an expert in these things.”

 

“But that's not, it hasn't, it's got no scientific hold.” Pidge was running her fingertips against his lotus almost fearfully, her stem was still intact.

 

“Science can't explain why we have soulmate marks, why would it be able to explain how they work?”

 

“Fair point.”

 

-

-

 

Keith's second mark came in halfway through his third scan of the desert that week. It was an orange stone surrounded by wood, on his back, right over his heart.

 

It didn't hurt to form, not like Shiro's had. This new mark stung, didn't burn like Shiro's lotus.

 

And with the new one came feelings, a sense of worry or content that wasn't his but was?

 

-

-

 

The new mark buried itself in his skin in the middle of a battle, almost got him killed, but he couldn't be mad at it. It gave him dreams.

 

The boy (he could barely call him that, his mind seemed too old) had cried when they both felt the connection. Lance, his name was Lance.

 

_What does my mark look like on you?_

 

_A lotus, exactly like Keith and Pidge have it._

 

_You're lying to me._

 

_Your lotus has a broken stem on mine, shattered more like it._

 

_That means something to you._

 

_When a flower doesn't have a stem it will never die, when the flower is plucked it shall wither, but when the stem is broken it means that the flower, while it can still grow, will grow deformed._

 

_Why? Why is yours different._

 

 _I don't know._ (But Shiro knew Lance knew, just didn't want to tell him for fear of hurting him)

 

-

-

 

Pidge might have screwed up, bad. She had been rubbing Hunks’ shoulders after a simulation gone wrong (Lance wasn't to blame, he had flown perfectly, it was her fault but he had taken the blame anyway) She had noticed Hunks mark for Lance, exactly like hers except for the small blue dots falling down the boy's silhouette.

 

“It looks like tears.”

 

“What?”

 

“The boy in your wave, in Lance's mark, it looks like he's crying.”

 

Hunk didn't talk to her for 3 days after that, spent all his time with Lance; she refused to say she was jealous (she was, terribly and disgustingly jealous. Hunk was her soulmate too)

 

When Hunk asked her if she knew about Lance's depression, anxiety, possible autism or adhd, and when she said no they both knew. Lance was only vulnerable, only cried, around Hunk. (She would change that, she would smother him in more touch and affections than she herself could stand, she would get him to feel safe to cry around her too)

 

-

-

 

Hunk’s third mark came in at the same time as Pidges did. It was Keith's soulmate mark, except the mouths were closed on theirs.

 

Lance didn't say anything about it, but Hunk knew he was hurting. Lances snakes had fangs, theirs didn't. Hunks snakes mouth was closed with nothing but the tongue sticking out and Pidges were just closed. Hunk could tell, from years of being together, that Lance hurt a lot.

 

Lance didn't talk about his uncle a lot, only that he didn't want to try sex at the moment and it had to do with him, but he knew from Lances sisters and abuela that the man had touched Lance, a lot. And often. Lances uncle hit him too, apparently it had taken Lance months of intense therapy to be okay with being touched again; Lance was the most physical person Hunk knew.

 

Hunk was pretty sure Lance was scared of that happening with Keith. (Lance was more scared of it happening to him and Pidge, he was scared if he was pushed too hard by one soulmate he would hurt them. Hunk knew he never would)

-

-

 

Keith got two marks at the same time. He had been rescuing Shiro with Pidge and her friends/soulmates. It was Pidges mark and that Lance guys, according to Pidge. His Lance mark had a boy in a wave like the others but the boys mouth was open. Pidge couldn't tell if the boy was smiling or not, she said it kind of looked like he was screaming. (He was scared of it being a repeat of his foster families, terrified of the idea he was bound to this person for life and they could be like them)

 

Lance didn't talk to him though, just sat too close to Shiro. (He had Shiro's mark too, and his, he shouldn't be mad) When Shiro woke up later that night he gripped Lance hard, practically sobbing, before Lance pushed him away and left the small shack. Shiro had made a wounded sound and reached for Lance as he left.

 

When Shiro noticed he was in the room too he sprinted for him, crushing him in a hug and actually sobbing.

  
When he had calmed down enough he explained why he was so attached to Lance; they shared dreams. (That didn't make him mad, didn't boil his blood and leave him lifeless)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> llamita: little fire (i used google translate so if i can improve this and make it more accurate please let me know)  
> Also i think that they announced the kerberos mission failure about a month and a half after it actually happened because like they probably investigated stuff secretly, Pidge shows up earlier cause shes like super smart. Keith gets kicked out about three days after they announce it.


	2. Too Many

When Allura came out of the cryopod she felt a burning sensation going up her thigh.

When she actually looked at her thigh later that night there were five dots; yellow, blue, red, green, and a blackish purple. She knew who they belonged to.

When she told Lance that she didn’t have a romantic mark for him, tired of the flirting when he clearly was involved with the other paladins and did not have a romantic mark for her either, about an earth week after her awakening, he laughed, told her he was just trying to make her smile. (she was confused, this boy who she didn’t know, who she dragged into a war, wanted to make her laugh)

When she confided with Coran he revealed he had the same marks, not as large as hers, but the same nonetheless.

-  
-

Shiros mark for Hunk came about on his middle back; it was simple, just a yellow crystal surrounded by wood. He compared it to Pidge’s and Keith's (he couldn’t find Lance, the boy seemed to avoid everyone but Hunk and Pidge. Shiro couldn’t figure out why) and it was practically the same as Pidges, just a different wood shade.

Shiro also hunted for Lance, to compare marks yes, but he wanted to know what was wrong. Lance had sung him to sleep in between fights, kept him conscious during the druids experiments, kept him sane. But meeting Lance had made the dreams stop, and made Lance avoid him. (Lance had never talked about Keith or Katie-now-Pidge, and now he knew why)

“Hunk.” The other flinched at his tone, he could see Lance scurrying out of the kitchen. “Why is Lance avoiding Keith and I. What did we do?”

“Nothing Shiro, you guys didn’t do anything. Lance is just, having a hard time.” Hunk sighed and continued tinkering with the food goo pump. “He, his grandma on his mom's side really messed him up about his marks, she would call him cursed and rub that lotion that old people think gets rid of marks. His abuela would wash the lotion off in the river by his house but it messed him up, man. Give him some time.”

Shiro cornered Lance 3 days after he talked with Hunk, after training. It might not have been the best thing to do (it wasn’t, Shiro could see the fear in Lance's eyes) but he needed Lance. Keith was amazing, beautiful, and helped him so much but he needed Lance too, needed all of them.

“Lance, Lance please tell me what I can do to make you more comfortable with Keith and I. We need you.” His soulmate just slipped passed him when Allura called for him, distracting him; he couldn’t pin Lance down long enough to talk to him after that.

-  
-

Keith was pissed off.

Lance was his soulmate, his romantic soulmate, and he was avoiding him. It pissed him off to no end. He had managed to make out with each one of his soulmates except Lance, but Lance made out with Hunk and Pidge all the time. It wasn’t fair. (It was. Keith knew that there were soulmates who didn’t ever fall in love)

Shiro had tried to corner Lance and didn’t succeed, so it was up to him. Instead of cornering the other he was just going to talk to him, for as long as he could. (Keith will be the first to admit he is shit at talking feelings but he wanted his soulmate, wanted Shiro to have his soulmate that he had shared dreams with)

Coran had told him that Lance spent hours each night in the observatory, and that was his best bet.

Keith just sat down next to Lance, deciding not to comment when the other furiously rubbed his eyes, and just looked at the stars in tense silence.

“Shiro loves you, you know that right.” Lance flinched, curling up into himself more and shaking his head.

“He shouldn’t, I’m not worth it.” It took Keith a few moments to not outright yell at Lance, he had a feeling that wouldn’t help.

“You are, even if you don’t think it yet.”

“Do you love me?”

“I don’t know, but I know I want to try.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to make you smile, I want to make all of you smile. Please let me try, I can go as slow as you want, as you need. I can’t say the same for Shiro, but I know he would do his damn best to respect your boundaries.” Lance nodded, he didn’t move closer to Keith but he didn’t move away either so he considered that a win. (He didn't. He knew Lance was lying, was just telling him what he wanted to hear)

-  
-

Pidge had pulled Lance into the common area, wrapped the two of them in blankets and handed him his fidget cube. He had a bad sensory day and needed to be held but Hunk was working with Coran and couldn’t leave. Lance wasn’t comfortable with Shiro or Keith touching him yet, but he was trying; so it was up to her. He snuggled under her chin and muttered to himself as he clicked away on his fidget cube.

Lance was the loudest person she knew after her brother, not just in the way he talked but in everything he did and liked. Lance loved things that clicked, whirled, and talked, though he was particular about the things that talked. When all of them were together distressing in companionable silence after battles you could hear Lance mutter to himself as he fiddled with the little toys Pidge made for him, no one knew what he was saying but he looked calm and happy so none of them said anything.

Lance would itch at his skin if he didn’t have something to play with when he needed it, in the Garrison half of the teachers he had wouldn’t let him fidget and he would scratch his skin until it bleed sometimes. The day his mom stormed into Iversons office and tore him a new one was a glorious day and Lance was never denied his fidgets after that. Pidge used the weird Altean metals and technologies to make him fidget toy after fidget toy, the shelves in his room were covered in them, he played with every single one of them at least once.

It made her happy, to know he trusted her to not only make him fidgets that would work for him but that he felt safe to use them and be himself around all of them. When she told Shiro and Keith that Lance never muttered at the Garrison unless he was in Hunk and his dorm room, rarely muttered at his own house, Shiro crushed her in a hug and Keith looked on the verge of happy crying.

So Pidge often sucked up her own physical boundaries (she would never tell Lance that, he would be too scared to even touch her) and cuddled with her taller soulmate, and she didn’t hate it. He was normally very still if she didn’t count his wiggles and constant re-snuggling, which she didn’t, only really moving when his elbows or knees started to ache. She would either work on her laptop or play with his hair and fall asleep, it was nice. (She couldn't help but think about how much she loved each one of her soulmates so much during the quiet times where Lance would snuggle up to her, play with one of her toys, and mutter to himself.)

-  
-

Hunk was always the one to play mediator, he was starting to get annoyed with it. (He wasn't, he was too happy with his role to be annoyed)

This time Lance had kissed Keith and run off, apologizing the whole way, and Keith was freaking out in kitchen. The kitchen was Hunks calm down space, it was not to be used for freaking out.

“Did I do something wrong, does he not like me, am I bad kisser?” Shiro was trying to calm their soulmate down, he wasn't doing that well.

“No Keith, none of those things. Lance is just weird around his soulmates at first, he acted similarly toward Pidge, I mean not in the same way but close enough.”

“I mean he didn't avoid me, he just didn't talk to me.” Keith withered a little while Shiro sent Pidge a glare. “Okay, when the most talkative guy you've ever met is your soulmate and he doesn't talk to you for over two weeks, that's not fun.”

“What's not fun?” Hunk jumped when Lance came up behind him, wrapping his arms around his shoulders.

“You not talking to me when we first met.”

“Oh yeah, I never apologized for that.” Lance had slowly placed himself in his lap, curling up and twirling a fidget toy Pidge made for him between his fingers.

“Lance,” Hunk wrapped his arms around Lance, ignoring his squirming( lance didn't like being touched on some days, preferring to just be), “You need to talk to Keith and Shiro. They're freaking out bud.”

“Mm.” Lance squirmed a bit more and Hunk finally let him go, he knew that when Lance wasn't okay with being touched he would bite you, Hunk didn't want a repeat of the summer before the Garrison. “About what?”

“Okay, that's the rudest you've ever been!” Keith stood up, looking like he was going to cry or hit something or both, and Hunk scrambled to stand between them.

“Keith, Keith, bud, calm down. Lance honest to God doesn't what you're talking about.” Lance probably didn't even know he did anything wrong.

“What did I do?” Lance stood up behind him, grabbing his hand and pulling on it repeatedly.

“Kiss and run.” Pidge stood up, kissed all of them on the cheek, and left. She was probably going to work on something with Coran. (She wanted to escape, she couldn't stand seeing Lance realize he did something social wrong, that boy was pure social)

“Oh, uh, I was, I was nervous. I didn't know if you were okay with that, the, the kissing.” Lance was fidgeting hard core at this point and Hunk had to resist the urge to wrap him in a bone crushing hug.

“So you ran?” Shiro had placed his hand on Keith's shoulder, looking worse for wear but better now that Lance was actually talking.

“Was that not the right thing to do?”

“No! You kissed me then ran off, I thought it was my fault, that you didn't like me.” Keith had started out yelling but quiet towards the end, he looked beaten down and defeated.

“Oh.” Hunk nudged Lance and motioned him to keep going. “Oh! Um, no I really like you, I just kind of, did that on impulse and I didn't know if you liked me too.”

“I do, we both do. I've said it before." Keith came up, maneuvered Hunk out of the way, which he did happily, and proceeded to suck Lances mind out of his mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> K so some background  
> Shiro knows Pidge is a girl beforehand. Lance and Hunk are told (kinda hard to lie to soulmates ya know) and then Keiths told too.


	3. Too Much

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw if anyone wants to draw fanart of this feel free i would be fucking honored

Lance wasn’t totally comfortable with Keith or Shiro yet, but he really was trying. It took him being told they loved him twice for him to partially believe it (he still wasn’t convinced but he could pretend)

 

He confided in Allura a lot, she understood his autism more than most people, besides Hunk, and was always willing to give him a hug or two. She was damn strong.

 

“Maybe if you told them about your grandmother and uncle they would understand what’s causing you to hesitate more? Or perhaps you tell Keith that you had dreams with him as well.”

 

“But they will think I’m gross if they know the truth.” (Lance was gross, who would want someone who had let their uncle rape them. Voltron didn’t deserve someone as weak as him)

 

“They won’t. Lance, you put too little faith in yourself and those you love, has Hunk thought less of you for your past?”

 

“No, but he doesn’t know the whole story.” Allura moved to wrap him in her arms, Lance snuggled up against her and sighed happily when she ran her fingers through his hair.

 

“I believe Hunk is smarter than you give him credit for when it comes to these things. Lance, darling, tell them. It will make them feel more secure in their bonds and make you feel safer.” Lance shrugged, deciding to braid the princesses hair and ignore the topic.

 

-

-

 

Shiro wasn’t exactly ecstatic, Lance was trying to give them more physical contact but he was still very hesitant. He rarely kissed either him or Keith but Shiro walked in on Lance making out with Hunk or Pidge constantly. It made him jealous. (he wanted all of them, now, he wanted to hold all of them and have them hold him)

 

The fact that Lance flinched when he or Keith wrapped their arms around his waist was even more worrying, Hunk had explained the bare minimums of Lances autism but Lance never came to them for comfort. He barely let them touch him.

 

When Shiro would try and talk to Lance he would get distracted or Lance would steer him off topic and he could never quite get them back on track. Shiro could tell that something was wrong with Lance, something had happened.

 

And his suspicions were confirmed when Lance woke up screaming from his post training nap.

 

Hunk had practically swallowed Lance in a hug, Pidge surrounded them both with blankets, taking care to keep Lance's head free, and placed herself at the boys side.

 

“Lance, buddy, you’re okay. Nothing is going to hurt you, we’re going to keep you safe.”

 

“No! No, he’s going to hurt Mia! I can’t let him!” Hunk pulled Lance closer to him while the other cried and screamed and thrashed. “I can’t let him hurt her!” Hunk motioned them closer to Lance.

 

“Just don’t sit on his lap.” Pidge pulled Keith closer, Hunk wrapped him in his arms. "He’s not going to get to Mia, you kept her safe, it’s okay.”

 

Lance quieted down, hiccuping every now and then, and buried himself in Shiro's neck, falling back asleep almost immediately.

 

“What, what was that?” Hunk sighed and combed his fingers through Keith's hair. “Hunk, what happened to Lance that you aren’t telling us?”

 

“Lance was abused by his uncle but only his younger sister and him were. No one in his family realized until he was about 12. He met me two years later, he only accepted me immediately because of how his abuela described me from my mark.” He ran his hand over Lance's forehead, pushing his hair back from his face. “I don't even have a real idea of what actually happened to him, I have my guesses but those are still just guesses.”

 

Shiro nodded, grabbing Pidges hand and wrapping their arms around Keith and Lance, settling down against Hunks chest.

 

“He'll tell us when he's ready.” Keith kissed the top of Pidges head, curling up around her to go to sleep. (Shiro wouldn't sleep, he couldn't now that he knew Lance could wake up screaming)

 

-

-

  


Coran got the feeling that his friends needed a little assistance. So Coran convinced Allura that all of them, himself included, needed a little truth session. (The paladins before the war held them often, but not often enough. Coran would fix that this time)

 

Allura took the idea and ran with it, as the paladins would say, holding the session a few quintax after he pitched the idea.

 

“Paladins, I believe we all need to be more truthful with each other and reveal our secrets. My father and the paladins before you often held these and it helped them grow closer as a team and grow as beings. If you are truly uncomfortable with sharing, simply just tell us a fact about yourself we had not previously known.” His princess sat down next to him, Lance next to her.

 

“What kind of secrets?” Keith had sat himself next to Lance, giving the boy some room but not much, making it very obvious he intended to get the other comfortable with him.

 

“Things that happened in our past,” Allura not so subtly glanced at Lance, receiving a tug on her hair as he braided it, “or simply things we have yet to learn about each other.”

 

“Seems simple enough.” Hunk came in, carrying a slightly distraught Pidge, and took Corans left; Shiro entered after and sat down next to the yellow paladin. “It took me forever to find this she devil, she was hiding in the vents.” The smallest of them proceeded to stick her tongue out at Hunk in such a childish manner; it reminded him of when Allura was but a youngling.

 

“Alright! I'll go first.” Allura told all of them the story of the scar she got on her knee when she was 7. Coran knew, and he was guessing the paladins knew as well, how hard it was for the two of them to talk about Altea and their lives before the war. He believed it was good though, let them treasure the memories but let go of the pain.

 

“When I was eight, my moms took me to the state fair near my school.” Lance stiffened, moving from from Allura to on Hunks lap in half a quintet. “When we got there, it was fun at first, but then the neighborhood drunk, who was also super anti gay marriage, came up to my momma and hit her upside the head with a beer bottle. She was in the hospital for a month and kept getting infections because the hospital we went to didn’t do a good job suturing her.” Hunk was crying at this point, his eyes felt a little moist too, and Lance was shushing him, running his hands through Hunks hair and down his face to wipe away the tears. It was a horribly adorable sight.

 

“That's, disgusting. I'm sorry that happened to you.” Keith was also on the verge of tears it seemed.

 

“Momma’s okay now, the guy who did it went to federal prison and we won the court case against the hospital. When she was completely healed we used the money to take a month long trip to Hawaii and then the next month we went to the Philippines, to visit family we hadn't seen in a long time.”

 

“I'm scared my dad and brother are dead, but I’m more scared they won’t remember me.” Pidges voice was small when she spoke up, “I’m scared they won’t remember anything.”

 

“Pidge, I’m sorry.” Shiro was looking down, staring at his Galra hand. Pidge and Kieth got up and stormed toward their leader and soulmate; Lance moved to sit next to Allura, seeming to be uncomfortable with all the people congregating around that area.

 

“No! Don’t you dare blame yourself! I love my family, so much, but I would be devastated to have to watch your mark bleed down my body. Don’t you dare blame yourself for anything that happened, anything you had to do, it wasn't your fault.” Pidge pulled Shiro into a tight hug, that man (barely, Coran reminded himself, all of them are barely adults) needed more of those.

 

“Thank you, Pidge.”

 

“Pidge, if your fears are found out to be true, which I doubt they are, we Alteans have technology specifically for memory regain. And if that doesn’t work, I doubt the lions would be opposed to helping out the family of a paladin.” He smiled at the girl, her sullen face showing her real age, and she smiled back.

 

“A lot of my foster families abused me, especially as I got older,” Coran watched as Shiro wrapped his arms around Keith, offering comfort to the smaller lad, “Not all of them were like that but a lot of them were. The worst one was when I was 16.” Keith seemed almost emotionless while telling them this, like he detached himself from his body the moment he began his tale. (The boy did, you could see it clearly in his eye)

 

-

-

 

What was Lance going to do? He couldn’t tell them about his uncle, they would be disgusted with him, he couldn’t do it.

 

He and Shiro were the only ones left besides Coran who hadn’t shared something yet, and he was getting the vibe that the mustachioed man wasn’t going to share until after he did and that Shiro was procrastinating his turn. (he couldn’t blame Shiro, never will)

 

“When,” taking a quick breath he could see Allura and Hunk (why Hunk, what did he know, was he playing Lance? Was their whole relationship a lie?) perk up in surprise, “when I was 4... I broke my arm getting a shell my older sister threw in a tree. I had given it to my brother for his shell collection and she’d wanted it but he wouldn’t give it to her. She cried for an hour in the hospital once I got my cast.”

 

“Really, Lance?” Pidge was glaring at him. “We all revealed something super personal and you give us a childhood story?”

 

“Pidge!” Shiro sat up straighter, giving her the most withering, disappointed glare Lance had ever seen. (that was a lie, he saw worse, experienced worse)

 

“No, No! I agree with Pidge. We all shared something so deeply personal and you give us the story of how you broke your arm! I don’t doubt Hunk already knew that.” Keith pushed himself up off of the weird circle couch to stand next to Pidge, who had migrated to the middle and was stalking toward him.

 

“Actually I didn’t. And besides, you two are being so mean to you fucking soulmate!” By the end of Hunks sentence he had stood up in front of Lance, protecting him from his two soulmates.

 

“He woke up screaming two days ago, tell us that backstory Lance.” He could almost see the mocking, deprecating tone dripping out of Pidges mouth.

 

“I wake up screaming almost every night, do you want me to share why? Tell you every little detail of my nightmares? Describe what the Galra did to me that year?” Shiro stood up and grabbed Pidge by the shoulder, shaking her and screaming in her face.

 

“What? No, of course not!” Pidge pushed away from their leader, staring at him like he just said the worst insult in the world.

 

“Then why is Lance any different?”

 

Everyone was yelling at this point; Coran and Allura had entered the middle of the circle to try and calm things down. Hunk had Kieth by the collar and they were having a yelling match. Shiro had grabbed Pidge again and was yelling at her, she looked to be on the brink of crying.

 

Lance couldn’t take this. He ruined another perfectly good thing with his problems, all because he couldn’t share one stupid, irrelevant thing that happened to him once. (it happened every weekend, sometimes on school nights too; he didn’t want to believe that though)

  
He left the room; maybe if he shot himself out of space everything would be back to normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all knew i had to hurt my boi
> 
> K so like quintets r like minutes? So i made up one for hours


	4. Good

Allura could not remember a time where she had been angrier than she is now. Not even anything Zarkon or his empire has done has made her this enraged.

Her paladins were fools. They were so caught up in their own world, their own wants, to see the hurt they were causing.

“How long until he's out of the healing pod.” Pidge was curled up in Hunks lap, old tears staining her cheeks. (Pidge deserves this pain, if it was up to her none of them would be allowed to see Lance)

“I'm unsure, we have never experienced anything of this sort. I do not know how they work for your kind, but soulmate marks never fade, not even when they run from the death of the other.” Coran was also seething, albeit more calmly than she was.

She watched all the paladins wither at this, curling into themselves in guilt, and she couldn't help the small grin.

“You were all so desperate to discover what was wrong with Lance but you disregarded his comfort, his safety, in favour of your own childish whims.”

“We get it Allura, we fucked up.” Keith looked away from her, worry lines creasing his forehead.

“I don't believe you do. You all were so consumed with defending Lance or blaming him, that you failed to not only notice him leave but the voluminous sound of the airlock code being overridden. And Coran and I are not free of fault, before you open your mouth, Pidge, we were too preoccupied with ending the fight than tending to its victim. But we weren't to occupied to not notice the sound of Lance overriding the airlock code and locking himself inside after initiating a countdown.” Allura glared at each of her paladins; she did care for each of them deeply but Lance was by far the one she cared for most.

“I wish for you all to leave, you included my princess, so that I may concentrate on reviving our soulmate.” All of them nodded, though she did so reluctantly, and left. (She could not fault her uncle, he cared deeply about Lance, possibly more so than she did. There arguing was most certainly a distraction)

-  
-

It had been a week since Lance tried to launch himself into space. Pidge still couldn't believe he did that. (She could. She knew of his depression, his lack of meds, all the full baked half attempted suicides)

Hunk said she was practically destroying herself; she had stopped eating, was working in continuous silence non-stop in the med bay for an alternative for Lances medication. It was all she knew how to do, she was horrible with words. She didn’t know how to apologize. (she never had to learn, she never fucked up this bad before)

The day after the truth circle incident, when they were allowed to see Lance in the pod, Keith had held her while they cried. It had been their fault the whole fight happened, she should have known what the repercussions would be. She had been so focused on understanding the pain that Lance went through that she ignored the pain she was putting him through.

“You really should rest.”

“I can’t, princess, perfecting this before he gets out is the only way I know how to apologize.”

“I don’t believe that,” Allura sighed, sitting down next to her and taking the panel from her hands, “I came to not necessarily apologize for my anger and claims, but for the excessive harshness of my words. I could have said them calmer, acted like the leader you all needed at the time, still need.” The princess ran her hands through her hair, it was frizzy and unkempt like she had been doing that for hours (she probably has, Pidge knew she wasn’t much better looking at the moment), and handed the panel back. “Please don’t overwork yourself, despite whatever you may think, your other soulmates need you and Lance needs you. He would be even more distraught and probably blame himself more if you had to go into a healing pod as well.”

Allura left the med bay with a not so subtle glance towards Lance, leaving Pidge to return to her silence.

-  
-

“Ah, I knew I would find you here, my boy.” Keith stopped beating up the battle droids (he was getting his ass handed to him, he was so tired) and turned to look at Coran. “I was hoping you would come with me for a bit, I want to show you something in the observatory.”

Sighing, he deactivated his bayard and ended the training sequence. Coran put his hand on his upper back, causing him to squirm a little, it reminded him of the people who worked at the orphanage.

“Sorry lad, I should have asked. Do you want to just take my arm, you look about to collapse.”

“Uh,” he really did feel like that, he could barely stand as it is, so he swallowed his pride and took the man's arm, “yeah sure why not.”

Coran gave him a blinding smile; when they got there Coran opened the door, pushed him in, and left.

In the middle of the room was a pile of blankets, pillows, and his soulmates watching Earth.

“Keith,” Hunk turned to him, swaddled in a giant, fluffy blanket, “c’mere dude. We’re having a bonding moment.”

“I don’t, I don’t know.”

“Keith, just get your emo ass over here and let Hunk cuddle you.” Pidge yelled from Shiro's lap, making the older man wince.

Following her orders because he was too intimidated not to, he sat down in Hunk’s lap and let him smother him.

“We decided that getting together and watching the stars would be good for everyone, get our minds off Lance.” Shiro grabbed his hand and snuggled up against Hunk’s side. “We all feel bad for what happened but we shouldn’t blame ourselves too much, we should focus more on looking at and redefining our relationship. Make sure something like this doesn’t happen again, to any of us.”

“That sounds a lot like Allura.” Pidge smirked up at Shiro but he could see the doubt in her eyes. (It was like looking into his own mind; like staring his own doubts in the face)

“It is a paraphrased version of what she said to me.” Shiro flicked Pidges cheek, earning a small squeak.

“Lectured more like it. It was Hunks idea to have our own mini truth session focused on the Lance incident.” Pidge curled back up into Shiro's lap.

“I’ll go first,” Hunk was carding his fingers through his hair while he talked, “I want to apologize for jumping straight to fighting instead of trying to keep the peace.”

“That shouldn’t be just your job though,” He grabbed the hand going through his hair and kissed it. “We all should have taken a second to calm down and think about what Lance was and wasn’t comfortable with sharing. We shouldn’t have pushed him and we shouldn’t have fought.”

“We can’t change that though, it happened. What do we do now? Lance’s marks have faded and I don’t know how to get them back.” Pidge pouted, she didn’t like not knowing things.

“Well, for now we try to fix us while Lance is in the pod. Figure out what we four can do to improve our relationship,” the because we don’t know who will die and when was left unsaid but they all could hear it, see the worry just behind Shiro's eyes. “And then when Lance gets out we will smother him in love and appreciation and apologize. Let him tell us what he wants to tell us when he’s ready.”

They all nodded, looking at the stars as Pidge changed the view to Tokyo.

“Lance’s abuela knew a ton about soulmate marks, maybe she told Lance something about fading marks and how, or if, it reverses.”

“We’ll ask when he’s better.” Keith snuggled into Hunk, letting his hand return to petting him. He grabbed Shiro’s hand and nudged his feet against Pidge’s.

-  
-

Lance stumbled into Pidges arms, grappling for hold against the onslaught of dizziness that always accompanied exiting a healing pod. Hunk came up behind him, wrapping them both in a bone crushing hug. (He knew each of their bodies, at least what he could see, would be able to tell who was who in the dark. Maybe he was too obsessed with knowing everything about them)

“Oh God, Lance I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m so sorry, we’re all so sorry.” Pidge was crying into his shoulders, grabbing and pulling against the healing pod suit. “We’re gonna cuddle the fuck out of you. Come on, Hunk pick him up, the others set up a picnic/cuddle den in the observatory.”

Hunk picked him up bridal style, chuckling at his little squeak, and they went through the halls that led to the observatory.

When they got there Lance saw all the pillows and blankets and got nervous, some of the blankets in this castle felt wrong against his skin.

“Hey,” Keith came up to him, holding him up when Hunk put him down, “We got all the softest blankets in the castle, we had Hunk test them all to make sure they were up to par.” He led him into the middle of the ‘cuddle den’. “Hey, can I, can I kiss you?”

Normally, with Keith and Shiro, he wasn’t comfortable unless he was initiating the kiss, but this time he just wanted to be pampered. (He was going to take what Allura said to him, to let himself want things, and run with it. If they were willing to do this much maybe they wouldn’t mind)

“Please.” Keith smiled big and happy at him, pulling him onto his lap and giving him little butterfly kisses all over his face. Lance let out a few giggles, enjoying the feeling of being in Keith's arms, he felt safe. Keith finally molded his lips against his, cradling his head in his hands and rubbing his fingers through the wisps of hair at the end of his haircut.

Shiro touched his shoulder, silently asking for permission, and he nodded as much as he could. Shiro planted a few chaste kisses against his neck.

“Okay you two, either let us join or get your butts apart enough for food.” Pidge nudged them, smiling at Lance as she kissed his cheek and went to help Hunk get the food ready.

“So, what’s with all this?” Lance sat back against part of the wall of pillows, Keith pressing up against his side. “It’s not my birthday, are we finally having a date?”

“It’s an apology date. We feel bad for what we did two weeks ago, and we weren’t sure exactly how to apologize so, we did this.” Shiro put a platter full of turrón, little slices of tres leches cake, and tiny bowls of rice pudding in front of him, chuckling as his chin hit the floor. “We stopped at another space mall and found a completely food dedicated shop that allowed taste testing. We found a lot of the basic ingredients actually taken from Earth, flour and sugar and stuff like that. The almonds and caramel were harder to find but Hunk found some pretty accurate substitutes.” Lance felt like he was drooling, dabbing at his chin he found out he actually was.

“Can I eat them?” Pidge snorted, she sounded like a distressed pug.

“Yes Lance, but can we talk a bit first? Nothing bad, we just want to properly apologize as best we can.” Nodding he cuddled up against Keith and wrapped the smaller boy's arms around his chest and squeezed. He heard a confused noise from his soulmate and giggled.

“He wants you to squeeze, Keith. He likes being squeezed.” Keith gave an experimental squeeze and Lance wiggled a bit to press closer against his chest. Keith slowly tightened his hold against his chest; Lance sighed happily, feeling comfortable and squished.

“I want to go first.” Pidge plopped herself in front of Lance, took his hands, and kissed his knuckles. “I want to apologize for how I acted and demanding for you to tell us why you were having nightmares. I was selfish, I wanted to know your secrets, stuff that was possibly overly personable, without considering how hard that could be for you.” Lance patted the space inbetween his legs, pulling Pidge into a quick but strong hug. He had a feeling that she wasn’t finished. “And I didn’t take the fact that you were telling us a story about your family, something you barely did in the Garrison and something you never do now, for not good enough. I also didn’t get the so not subtle hint that you weren’t ready to share your big secrets.”

“I’m sorry for that too. I desperately wanted to be a part of your life, know everything about you without really expecting to let you know anything about me,” Lance had to hold on to Keith’s arms, not because his soulmate was letting go but because he was afraid he would; Keith just squeezed him closer and tighter in response. “I wanted so badly to be everything you needed, still want to be that, that I let that get in the way of what I actually, really wanted. I want to be someone you can feel safe around, someone you can talk to about everything and nothing, but I, but I didn’t realize that until I almost lost you.”

Lance knew how hard it was for Keith to talk about what he feels and what his fears are, years of abuse and neglect did that to Keith. (He knew too well how much it affected him, years of seeing it through his eyes will never let Lance forget that) He shifted around a little to place a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

Hunk looked at him and smiled, pulling Pidge into his lap and taking his hands, giving them the same treatment she did.

“I’m sorry I forgot how much you don’t like conflict, how you tend to blame yourself for causing fights. I should have stopped the conflict before it got to the point it did. And I know this is supposed to be an apologize to Lance thing, but I want to say I’m sorry to you too Keith. I should never have gotten physical not matter how mad I was.” Lance could feel the smile and blush on Keith's face when Hunk crawled over and kissed him on the cheek.

“I don’t even know how to describe how sorry I am Lance.” Shiro scooted over to him and Keith, running his Galra hand through his ‘stuck in a healing pod’ soft but greasy hair. “I failed you as a leader, a friend, and a soulmate. And before you say I didn’t, I did. I encouraged the argument by not only participating but getting physical, not only hurting Pidge, which I deeply regret, but hurting you while trying to defend you when I should have just tried to stop it all together.”

Lance was definitely crying at this point, he was pretty sure Hunk was too, and he held his arms open for a group hug, which they all scrambled to give him.

“I know if my abuela was here, she would tell me to not forgive all of you for at least a week and make you sleep on the couch, but I can’t. I forgave all of you the moment the fight started and that may not be healthy and I’ll work on that, but for now that’s how I think. And I appreciate all of you so much and love you so, so, so much. Even if I’m not the best at showing it.” He took a deep breath, pulling Keith closer to him. “My grandmama always told me, well she didn’t tell me but I heard her say it, she said I would die alone and sad because I had too many marks for any of them to be requited. She rubbed this stuff that was supposed to get rid of soulmate marks because she was so convinced none of them would be reciprocated. She always thought I didn’t know that’s what it was for, she always told me it was for sore muscles, but she muttered to herself in Gaelic a lot and even though I can’t speak it fluently, half of my family does, so I understand it perfectly. I always knew what bad things she said about me and my marks and I guess that kind of stuck in my brain and I ended up believing it.”

They had all hugged him again, Shiro and Hunk were crying and Pidge refused to let go of him for a solid five minutes. When they all calmed down Hunk pulled the food closer, Keith set the observatory to Las Vegas, and they all ate sweets and watched drunk people stumble through the streets.

-  
-

When all the treats were eaten and everyone was on the verge of sleeping Hunk felt Lance sigh.

“My uncle raped me until I was twelve.” Shiro shot up from Pidge’s lap, Keith almost spat out his alien soda, and Pidge stared at Lance. He just sighed, he had a hunch that's what happened. (Not for that long, when did it start, why did nobody notice before) “He would baby sit my sister Mia and I, we were the only ones not old enough to be left alone at the time. He would tell me he would hurt Mia if I didn't let him do stuff to me."

“Christ Lance, of course you didn't want to tell us.” Pidge scooted closer with a horrified expression.

“It's complicated, I want to tell you, but I’m scared you’ll be disgusted with me.”

“We could never be disgusted with you Lance,” Shiro moved from Pidge and scooted over to Lance, taking his hand, “we love you too much. I know we’ve been pretty crap at showing it but we do, so much.”

“Can I, we, ask why you let him do that for so long and not tell you parents?” Keith had put himself between Lance’s legs, running his fingers through the tallers hair when he stiffened. Hunk wrapped his arms tighter around his boyfriend. “If you want to.”

“He,” Lance took a big, shuddering breath. He shook his head as if to clear away bad memories. “He told me he would carve Mia’s soulmark off her.”

Hunk sucked in a sharp breath, carving off someone's mark is worse than death.

“He threatened to carve off mine, too.” He couldn't stand this, he never thought what happened would have been this bad. “I just, couldn’t let that happen. I loved, love, my marks too much and the doctors said that Mia would never get a soulmark, she had that one brain disorder that screwed with the part of the brain that made soulmarks appear. She got hers when she was three and was so excited, I couldn't do that to her.”

“You could have called the police.” He watched Keith get up and start pacing, rubbing the spot where his Lance with mark was.

“I couldn’t speak english until I was ten. And when I finally learned enough to be able to even explain the barest of what was happening I guess it was too late. I was too used to it, and too scared of him.”

“How,” he couldn’t stand this, the feeling of uselessness that coiled in gut when he thought of all that happening to Lance, “how did it stop?”

“My older sister, Alma, walked in on him, him doing it. She had a black belt and knocked him out, picked me up, grabbed Mia, and drove us to her boyfriends. He watched us while she went to the police and called our parents. All I really remember is her boyfriend sitting, closest to the door, by us while we watched avatar, I think he had a gun on him.”

“Christ Lance.” Keith dropped in front the two of them, settling against Lance’s chest.

Shiro pressed as close to his side as he could, running his hand through his hair. Pidge was still at the edge of the blanket, where she had been before all this started, staring at Earth with a glare that could kill Zarkon.

“I know that’s a lot to tell of you, especially when we were all so sleepy, but I didn’t want to keep it in anymore. Realistically I know he can’t get me anymore, I mean not only is he still in jail but we’re in space. But I just feel safer having you all know the story. It makes me feel safer.” Lance gave them all a small smile, turning to kiss his cheek since he couldn’t actually see the smile, and snuggled back into his chest.

Pidge yawned, scooting into Keith’s space, and let out a sigh. “Thank you, Lance.” She grabbed his hand and kissed his knuckles, Hunk was half convinced that was her favorite body part of their soulmate. “Allura gave me the code for the deeper parts of the castle ship, where like the actual bedrooms are, cause they finally finished repairing them. She said that the third bedroom in the fourth hallway of the left initial hallway has the biggest bed in the entire castle.” Pidge pulled her tablet out of thin air, pulling up the updated castle map. “Besides hers, of course.”

“Let’s all go cuddle in the new bed, what do you say Lance?” Shiro smiled at Lance’s half asleep face, completely relaxed in between him and Hunk.

“As long as that becomes our new bedroom, I’m chill. Hunk, carry me.” Snorting, he stood up while cradling Lance in his arms.

Shiro patted his arm, walking to grab the tablet from Pidge as she argued with Keith.

“Keith, just carry her, you know you want to.” Shiro ruffled Keith’s hair; Hunk snickered as Keith grumbled while picking Pidge up despite his satisfied smile.

“Onward my noble steed, to the giant alien bed!” Pidge yelled as Keith adjusted her on his back, making all of them laugh while they followed Shiro through the halls of the castle.

Hunk knew this wouldn't be over that easily, that it couldn't be fixed so quickly. But for now he was just happy that Lance and all his soulmates were happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this Au:  
> Having your mark "carved" out (cut out, remove the skin with the mark) causes extreme pain due to the body needing the have a physical manifestation of the soul bond but can't because human's don't have the ability to regrow skin completely (or at all depending on the damage) so a part of the brain is basically trying to regrow skin it can't so that the soulmark can be put back and it causes immense pain. also slowly destroys the soul bond.  
> A part of the brain is known to be responsible for the appearing of soulmarks but no one knows how or why.


	5. Too Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING:  
> Lance is sexually assaulted by some aliens and goes unresponsive. this chapter is basically all that and glimpses of the team dealing with that. If this chapter bothers you pls skip it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> due to the overwhelming response for option two (seriously guys thank you so much for caring about my health so much it makes me feel so happy) and my attaining of the drugs (I bought some cold meds finally) I was able to finish this chapter. It's a little shorter than other chapters but I liked how I finished it and wanted to pick things up in the next chapter

To say that Lance wasn’t happy was overstatement.

 

The planet Allura insisted they make an alliance with was filled with perverts, they kept trying to touch him or Keith but he wasn’t allowed to get pissed at them because he was the Blue Paladin and apparently this planet of creeps knew about Voltron.

 

“Your skin is very soft, Blue Paladin, it rivals our queens.” The alien lady reaches out to touch, ignoring the not so subtle way he moves out of her reach, and follows him. Also, these alien things have no concept of soulmates or soulmarks, they just thought the marks were status symbols. It took him a full hour to explain it to the king and queen.

 

“Thank you, I try to take good care of it.” Lance just needed to get close to Shiro and have the older man make out with him, then these aliens freaks would (hopefully) leave him alone.

 

He was able to get away from the alien lady by telling her he needed to talk to Hunk about some technical mumbo jumbo that he heard his soulmate spew in the Garrison, but it was just his luck that he would get pulled aside by the _king_ of all people, aliens, living beings.

 

“I feel that calling you by your warrior status to be impersonal, would you mind telling me your name?” The king had wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him closer than was comfortable, and was running his dry ass hand up and down his side.

 

“Leo.” He tried smiling, having perfected the fake smile a long time ago, but it was harder this time. He got used to not having to fake smiles. (He guessed that was a good thing)

 

“Leo,” the king was slowly pulling him away from the party. (his hand started to feel like his uncle's hand, the king's voice taking on the drunken baritone that his uncle had) “It seems too bold a name for a pretty thing like you.”

 

Lance couldn’t talk anymore, wasn’t even aware of what was happening, he just knew he had to follow his uncle or else Mia would get hurt.

 

-

-

 

Keith had been uncomfortable all night, staying near Hunk and never deactivating his bayard. The aliens here were too friendly, too touchy, and he was worried about Lance.

 

The feelings he got before he met Hunk had come back full force tonight for some reason, he could feel everyone’s emotions. Having a connection with Red helped him with sorting through whose emotions were whose and which ones were his, he didn’t feel as confused or overwhelmed as the last time. (Being near and knowing all his soulmates helped too)

 

And he had been getting a huge feeling of uncomfortable dread and panic from Lance barely even a minute ago, but it just stopped. He couldn’t feel any emotions from Lance.

 

“Hunk, we need to find Lance.”

 

“Yeah, I feel the same, but Allura said to stay in no more than groups of two, these aliens don’t take well to polyamory.”

 

“We _need_ to find Lance. Look, I’m not gonna explain it right now but I can feel all of your emotions and I just lost feeling of Lance. Like he stopped feeling, and Lance never stops feeling, so something is wrong.”

 

“Okay, calm down. We’ll find him. Go get Shiro, and stay with him, I’ll find Pidge and tell Allura what’s going on.” Hunk ran his hands up and down Keith's arms, the gesture working to calm him down a bit.

 

“Yeah, meet back here?”

 

“Of course.”

 

-

 

-

 

The first thing Shiro noticed is that Keith was panicking, hard core, and that he didn’t know where Lance was.

 

“Shiro, thank God I found you.” Shiro pulled the his soulmate into his arms, rubbing his arms up and down Keith’s back to try and calm him down. “We need to find Lance, I’m not going to explain it right now but I can feel all your guys feelings, and Lance just stopped feeling.” Well, that was unexpected.

 

“What do mean, stopped feeling?” He held Keith out at arm's length, trying to see if he was playing a trick on him (he wasn’t, Shiro knew that, but the thought of Lance not feeling anything scared him more than the thought of being captured by the Galra again)

 

“I don’t really know, it’s just like I lost all sense of him. Even before he actually, really accepted as his soulmates I could still kind of feel him. I could feel him even when he was in the cryo pod.”

 

“Alright, where’s Hunk and Pidge, and has someone told Allura?” He grabbed Keith’s hand, looking around to try and find his other soulmates.

 

“Hunk was getting Pidge and telling Allura, we’re supposed to meet him by the food table.”

 

Keith dragged him over to the buffet table. Hunk looked to be doing deep breathing and Pidge was pacing, growling at every alien that tried to talk to them. Keith quickly explained the situation to Pidge while he helped Hunk get a hold of his anxiety.

 

“Okay, well I can track his suit on my tablet, let’s start there.” Pidge pulled out her tablet, typing a codes on; a blue dot began to ping on the map of the alien castle they were in. It was Lance, in a secluded hallway, with the life signature of the king. “That’s not good.”

 

“Why, why is that not good?” Hunk grabbed the tablet out of Pidge’s hand.

 

“The king had been bothering Lance, all night, and flirting with him. Like hardcore flirting.” Pidge had already started walking towards the hallway they saw Lance’s blip in.

 

“Oh Christ.” Shiro followed Pidge quickly, grabbing Keith and Hunk as he ran.

 

-

 

-

 

When they found Lance he was on his knees, sucking the king's dick with glazed over eyes, but not the good glazed over.

 

Keith had to be held back by Shiro so he didn’t kill the alien bastard, while Hunk and Pidge beat the shit out of the dude. He ran up and grabbed Lance, carrying to unresponsive boy to Shiro; he wanted to carry him but Shiro was stronger and could hold Lance for longer, and he needed to be able to defend Lance from any of the king's minions

 

“If you think that we will continue our alliance with your people after you have not only sexually assaulted our paladin and friend but also refused to surrender when the other paladins confronted you. I do not care what advantages your people have, you all can be enslaved by the Galra for all I care.” Allura ripped up the peace treaty, throwing the pieces in the face of the king, and pulling them all towards the castle ship. “We shall not respond to any distress signals your people give out.”

 

“You will regret this! I will tell every planet that Voltron is uncaring and work for Zarkon.” The king looked a sickly dark puke green, Keith’s assuming that was what happened when this species blushed. “You have dared to take my betrothed from me.”

 

Oh that would not fly with Keith. “He’s our soulmate you ass. And even if he wasn’t, you fucking brainwashed him or something cause he’s completely unresponsive and would never have done that willingly.”

 

“That is none of my concern, willing or not he is a beautiful specimen and belongs in my harem. And every planet will know of you and your pathetic friends seperating us.”

 

“That’s fine because I plan to broadcast your actions, and now your own words, to any planet that could want our help or help you.” Pidge pulled out her tablet and replayed the entire conversation, smirking as the color drained from the king’s face. “I’m sure every planet would love to have an alliance with a rapist.” Pidge turned, dragging Hunk with her as she lead them all towards the ship to the cacophony of the kings screeching.

 

-

 

-

 

“Pidge are you actually going to broadcast that?” Shiro put Lance down on their bed, turning to look at his smallest soulmate. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

 

“Well, I was going to if Lance was okay with it but for now I wasn’t planning on it. My threats will hold up for now.” He nodded, giving out a few instructions before following Hunk to the kitchen.

 

“Is that a common occurrence, something happening to Lance and him going catatonic?” Hunk sighed as he pulled out a couple water packets.

 

“I’m not sure if it’s common but it has happened before, it happened at the Garrison when someone got too physical with Lance while flirting with him. The guy had put his hand on Lance’s neck and lower back apparently, and then Lance just stopped responding and followed the guy half way across the classroom before Lance’s teacher noticed that something was wrong.” Hunk grabbed some food packets and handed them to him. “He stayed in our room the rest of the day and didn’t respond unless I ordered him to do something like eat or drink. It took Mia coming and talking him to him about random stuff for an hour before he became responsive, it took about another hour for him to actually realize where he was and remember that he wasn’t in that situation anymore. It was, it was really hard to watch.”

 

“Did it happen any time after that one?” Shiro shuddered at the thought that Lance had been it that space for so long, and became sick at the thought that he might be in it longer this time.

 

“No, never this bad. Sure he’s had a couple panic attacks where he goes unresponsive for a couple minutes, maybe an hour at most, but never a whole day and a half.”

 

“Christ.”

 

“Yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> Snakes: new beginnings, the ability to start over; symbolizes change  
> Lotus: patience, divine beauty; i made up the stem stuff but it sounds cool  
> Crystals(it's a quartz just btw): cleansing of negativity energy; Wood (petrified wood): grounding and stabilizing emotions  
> Spear: I just thought pidge was like a spear; Vines: again....just cause  
> Wave: intention, devotion, love, felixiblilty; Boy: it lance and he sad  
> Mice: I ran out of creativity  
> Lion: yall should know that one it's p obvious  
> Marks on backs: Romantic  
> Marks on lower body( legs): Platonic  
> Marks on hands: basically your familiar  
> Dreams: stop once you meet the soulmate, v rare; Feelings is the same way but they can continue (it's v rare tho)


End file.
